Configure the min memory per query Server Configuration Option

This topic describes how to configure the min memory per query server configuration option in SQL Server 2014 by using SQL Server Management Studio or Transact-SQL. The min memory per query option specifies the minimum amount of memory (in kilobytes) that will be allocated for the execution of a query. For example, if min memory per query is set to 2,048 KB, the query is guaranteed to get at least that much total memory. The default value is 1,024 KB. The minimum value 512 KB, and the maximum is 2,147,483,647 KB (2 GB).

Limitations and Restrictions

The amount of min memory per query has precedence over the index create memory Option. If you modify both options and the index create memory is less than min memory per query, you receive a warning message, but the value is set. During query execution you receive another similar warning.

Recommendations

This option is an advanced option and should be changed only by an experienced database administrator or certified SQL Server technician.

The SQL Server query processor tries to determine the optimal amount of memory to allocate to a query. The min memory per query option lets the administrator specify the minimum amount of memory any single query receives. Queries generally receive more memory than this if they have hash and sort operations on a large volume of data. Increasing the value of min memory per query may improve performance for some small to medium-sized queries, but doing so could lead to increased competition for memory resources. The min memory per query option includes memory allocated for sorting.

Security

Permissions

Execute permissions on sp_configure with no parameters or with only the first parameter are granted to all users by default. To execute sp_configure with both parameters to change a configuration option or to run the RECONFIGURE statement, a user must be granted the ALTER SETTINGS server-level permission. The ALTER SETTINGS permission is implicitly held by the sysadmin and serveradmin fixed server roles.